Fans of Cate Blanchett and Alfonso, unite! The acclaimed actor and director are teaming up for a new psychological thriller on Apple TV Plus, and you can watch the disturbing, mysterious first teaser below.
Titled DisclaimerThe series will premiere exclusively on Apple’s streaming service in mid-October. And while the show’s primary trailer doesn’t give much away about the plot — opting for a cryptic, ominous approach rather than an expository one — Apple isn’t keeping us waiting for more details about Disclaimer’s story.
Despite the initial, somewhat ominous images, the tech giant has also published a handy short story. Below, you can read what to expect from the upcoming show.
What is Apple TV Plus’ Disclaimer series about?
Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Cuarón, whose other credits include the inventive 2013 science fiction film Gravity and the semi-autobiographical 2017 Netflix film Rome, Disclaimer is based on the bestseller by Renée Knight. In this The Lord of the Rings Blanchett, a former film trilogy student, plays acclaimed journalist Catherine Ravenscroft, who, according to Apple’s press release, “has built her reputation on exposing the crimes and transgressions of others. (But) when she receives a novel from an unknown author, she’s shocked to realize she’s now the protagonist in a story that will expose her darkest secrets.”
“As Catherine races to uncover the writer’s true identity, she is forced to confront her past before it destroys both her own life and her relationships with her husband Robert and their son Nicholas.”
Joining Blanchett are Sacha Baron Cohen (Borate) as Robert and Kodi Smit-McPhee (X-Men: Apocalypse), plus other notable names – whose characters’ identities have yet to be revealed – in Lesley Manville (Whores, Back to black), Louis Partridge (Argyle motif), Leila George (Animal Kingdom), and Hoyeon (Squid game). Indira Varma (Game of Thrones, Doctor who) will also be the narrator.
An exciting step into a new film genre
Perhaps the most underrated of the world’s top streaming services, Apple TV Plus has struggled to convince consumers to sign up for Apple TV Plus over its more popular rivals. Despite this, it has produced some of the best TV shows we’ve seen in recent years, including mind-bogglingly good sci-fi series like Partingcomic gems like Shrink And Ted Lassoand recent thriller hits such as Presumed innocent And Lady in the lake.
It’s the latter duo and, by proxy, Apple’s curious move into the thriller genre that has really caught my eye lately. Like I said, there have been plenty of top-notch Apple TV shows of late, but there’s no denying that the tech giant has made a name for itself in the sci-fi genre. You only have to look at Parting, Foundation, For all of humanity, Siloand countless other examples to prove it. The fact that many of them appear on our list of the best Apple TV Plus shows is further evidence that Apple has cornered the market for rich sci-fi storytelling as well.
That said, the subtle shift towards greenlighting more thriller-based content suggests that Apple is trying to conquer another genre, one largely dominated by Netflix, Max, and Prime Video. In 2024 alone, it has released six new thriller-focused TV series, none of which have suffered the indignity of receiving a critical score below 71% on Rotten Tomatoes – in fact, three of them currently have ratings above 85%. Not bad for a streamer struggling to compete in a crowded market.
As more viewers become obsessed with thriller stories, it makes sense that the world’s leading streaming companies are investing more in this genre of storytelling. If Apple can position itself at the forefront of the conversation with new, talented and potentially excellent series like Disclaimerit could just give people an extra reason to switch the platform(s) they subscribe to.